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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 116 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

Words on the sheet
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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: capital · vault · game · clip · degree · row · straw · rush

  1. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  2. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  11. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. That must've been a ________________.
  15. That was a fun ________________.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  24. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. row — a line
  2. straw — dry grass
  3. clip — to cut
  4. vault — in gymnastics
  5. degree — from a university
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. capital — money
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. rush — to hurry
  11. row — to paddle
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. degree — temperature
  14. rush — a thrill
  15. game — a match
  16. capital — a city
  17. vault — an arched ceiling
  18. clip — for paper
  19. rush — hurry
  20. clip — a video
  21. degree — an amount
  22. game — wild animals
  23. vault — a safe
  24. capital — a big letter

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com